SUNY chiefs compensation package soars to $1M after bumps in pay, perks

SUNY Chancellor John King is living large.The head of the state’s 64-campus university system now has a compensation package worth more than $1 million after getting bumps in pay and perks, according to a report.King, who was tapped to lead the public college and university system in 2022, is now making $875,000 in annual base pay and has a $15,000-a-month housing stipend after a vote by the SUNY Board of Trustees in November, PoliticoPro said in a report this week.He was previously paid $750,000 in salary and $12,500 in monthly housing, the outlet said.

The board did strip King of one perk — a $4,000 monthly payout for him to travel back and forth from the Empire State to his home in Maryland.Before taking the SUNY job, King served as US secretary of education from 2015 to 2016 and was New York education commissioner from 2011 to 2014.He co-founded Roxbury Prep, a top charter middle school in Massachusetts, and headed Uncommon Schools, a network of nationally recognized charters.In 2011, he was inducted into the national Charter School Hall of Fame by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.SUNY officials told PoliticoPro that the increased compensation package seeks to keep pace with the leaders of other major public university systems in the country, including in California, where the same post carries $1.3 million in compensation, and Maryland, where the figure is $1.2 million.“The SUNY Chancellor oversees the nation’s largest statewide comprehensive system of public higher education, and his compensation reflects his outstanding performance driving SUNY’s accomplishments and progress over the last two years,” spokesperson Holly Liapis said.“Following the Trustees’ vote in November, the current compensation level for the SUNY Chancellor remains more than $100,000 lower than the compensation for similar public university leaders in California, Maryland and Texas,” Liapis said.However, King’s take tops his predecessors in the New Yor...